


Father-Friend

by hatebeat



Series: Putting the gears in motion [8]
Category: Metalocalypse
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 06:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatebeat/pseuds/hatebeat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spring, 1994. Nathan has news for his dad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Father-Friend

_Florida. Spring, 1994. ___

__Nathan wouldn't normally make a phone call or bother initiating anything. It felt too weird and he hated being made to feel weird. But this time, he made the phone call himself._ _

___"Dad, we should go fishing. Or something."_ _ _

__That was all he had to say for his dad to be on board with it._ _

__The next weekend found the two of them together in a rented boat on Mosquito River. It was peaceful and quiet and Nathan was able to just relax and enjoy it. Living with Pickles was about a million times better than living at home with his parents, but they wrote music constantly and went out a lot and got drunk every night and sometimes he did drugs with Pickles if he felt like it, and while that was all a lot of fun, there was something to be said about taking it easy and going fishing with his dad._ _

__His dad was the one who ruined the quiet, but Nathan should have expected it._ _

__"You know, your mother's been really worried since you moved out."_ _

__Nathan couldn't help making a vague face of disgust. "Yeah, well, so?"_ _

__His dad sighed quietly. "She wants us all to go out to dinner together for your birthday."_ _

__"You know I do _not _want to do that," Nathan said flatly.___ _

____"You could at least come by to visit her from time to time. She misses you."_ _ _ _

____This fishing thing was suddenly not so relaxing anymore. He didn't want to talk about his mom and more importantly, he didn't want to talk _to_ his mom. It wasn't that he didn't like her or something, but she was so god damn over the top all the time! Being near her just stressed him out to a level that he was not okay with. His dad was usually fun to be around if his mom wasn't there, too, and he would have a blast going out to dinner for his birthday with his dad, even if that wasn't brutal at all. But if his mom was there, she would just nag him about shit and bother him and... No! He didn't want to do it!_ _ _ _

____It was bad enough that he had to hear about it from his dad! He was trying to relax, here!_ _ _ _

____But that did remind him of the reason he actually called this whole thing. Right._ _ _ _

____"That, uh... actually, I probably won't be able to visit her anymore, anyway," Nathan confessed._ _ _ _

____"Oh, come on, Nathan. I know you don't get along well with her all the time, but she _is_ your mother. She loves you, son."_ _ _ _

____"It's not... _that_ ," he said with some difficulty. "And it's not that I don't _get along_ with her." She was just way too much to deal with! It wasn't worth it. "But, uhhh... I'm going to leave. Like, I'm leaving Florida. So I can't just like come by or anything."_ _ _ _

____"Leaving Florida?" his dad repeated. When Nathan didn't respond, he pressed, "Where are you going?"_ _ _ _

____"New York."_ _ _ _

____Nathan felt something tug on his line, so he started to reel it in a bit, but it was gone as soon as he felt it. With a dissatisfied grunt, he recast his line._ _ _ _

____"New York? How are you going to... _Why?_ " _ _ _ _

____"The death metal scene there is pretty brutal." Nathan shrugged._ _ _ _

____"Nathan, you've never even been to New York," his dad pointed out, and it sounded dangerously close to the kind of tone his mom would be using if she were here. It made Nathan cringe._ _ _ _

____"Pickles has."_ _ _ _

____" _Pickles_... Oh, that guy you're living with, right? What's his real name?"_ _ _ _

____"That's it, that's his name. It says so, like on his ID and everything."_ _ _ _

____He could tell his dad was skeptical, but he didn't care. He moved out of his parents' house for a reason and he was going to New York for a reason and they should just fucking trust him._ _ _ _

____"Nathan, I'm just saying, you haven't always made the best choices in the past..." his dad hedged._ _ _ _

____"Yeah, well... so? I'm making the right choice this time."_ _ _ _

____"You didn't even graduate- what are you going to do about money?" Nathan made a face. He hated when his dad nagged him about dropping out. He just wasn't suited for that shit, that was all there was to it._ _ _ _

____Besides, he couldn't stand the people he went to school with._ _ _ _

____"Pickles has us covered for now. We're gonna play gigs. That's how we'll get money." Wasn't that obvious? His dad always forgot that he was a singer. Maybe he should remind him. "Dad, I'm gonna be a musician whether you like it or not."_ _ _ _

____"It's just not a sustainable lifestyle, Nathan. I think you can understand why your mother and I might be a little, well, concerned."_ _ _ _

____"No, it'll be fine. I keep having dreams telling me this is the right thing to do."_ _ _ _

____His dad wiped his face and sighed in frustration. "Not these dreams again..."_ _ _ _

____" _Dad_ ," Nathan growled. "Just trust me."_ _ _ _

____"Fine, Nathan." His dad recast his line, visibly irritated. "Go to New York. But just remember, you can always come home."_ _ _ _

____"Uh huh." Nathan was not coming home. Not ever._ _ _ _

____"And before you leave," he continued, "you have to have your birthday dinner with your mother and say goodbye to her, or else I'm never going to hear the end of it."_ _ _ _

____Nathan shuddered. That sounded like a fate worse than death, but he knew his dad had a point._ _ _ _

____" _Fine_ ," Nathan growled. "But next year, you better keep her from calling me to tell me happy birthday."_ _ _ _


End file.
